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Tamers Episode 37: No Mon Is an Island

In this episode, Terriermon's the
one with the concussion, but Henry's the one all screwed up in the
head.

Remember back at the beginning of the
series when we thought Henry was the sane one? Boy did he have us
fooled! Someone we've gone full circle to the point where Rika is now
the stable one. We're still coming off Takato going berserk and now
Henry loses all composure. At one point, in spite of the fact that
they're staring down a very angry god that wants to make them dead,
Takato and Rika take a moment to turn to Henry and say, “dude...
chill.”

None of what we see out of Henry here
is unique. He's over-protective of his little sister and refuses to
let her get involved in the action, just like Matt's attitude towards
TK. He fails to acknowledge his partner's condition and throws him
into a battle in poor shape. Tai's done that before. He refuses to
acknowledge his teammates and believes he's the only hope to save the
day. Um... we'll spare Tai more grief and give that one to Yolei.

The culmination of all of these at once
makes Henry look really bad here. There's no doubt that they're all
under an intense amount of pressure. They're shaken by Leomon's
death, staring into Zhuqiaomon's intimidating domain, believing that
rescuing Calumon from it is the only way to save the world.
Furthermore, while it's never communicated, none of them are
confident that getting home is even possible, which has to be running
through their heads as their mission nears conclusion.

The reason all this affects Henry most
visibly is telling: secretly, he thinks he's the leader. Just as he
had us fooled, he too considers himself the level-headed voice of
reason in the group. And if he didn't consider himself the primary
decision maker when all this began, certainly he had to take Suzie's
arrival and Takato going off the deep end as signs that he had to
take charge. The end result is that he falters under the pressure,
even though much of it is self-imposed. He yells at and even raises a
hand at Suzie, doesn't see that Terriermon has what can only be
diagnosed as a concussion, and uses “I” in places that really
call for a “we.”

Apparently, a Digimon's concussion
symptoms involve extremities fading in and out of reality. After the
blow to the head he suffered last episode, Terriermon shrugs it off,
either in denial or not realizing the severity of brain injuries.
It's not until he evolves to Rapidmon to face Zhuqiaomon that Henry
notices, and by then it's too late. Zhuqiaomon (who, it's worth
pointing out, is a goddamn Sovereign and not about to lose to a
bunch of Ultimates) wastes him back to Rookie. It's only then that
Henry pulls the Davis Motomiya patented technique of going so far off
the rails that the mere realization of how much he screwed up is good
enough for a new evolution. MegaGargomon, a giant robot of a Digimon
with just the happiest missiles in town, lands a few punches on
Zhuqiaomon and makes the other tamers think their opponent is mortal
for a moment. Spoiler: he's not.

That's the thing about facing off
against Zhuqiaomon. The tamers do all this because they know they
have to, but at the end of the day... he's a god! You don't kill a
god with Ultimates! He's in the same group as Azulongmon, the guy who
stopped BlackWargreymon cold with little more than a chuckle. They're
not going to do anything against him, and the notion that it would
even be possible is silly. Credit the tamers for staying alive, but
that's really all they could have hoped for.

My Grade: B

Loose Data:

How bad has Henry gotten? His top
priority is not getting everybody home safely, it's just getting
Suzie home. That's it. Kenta can die in a fire for all he cares.

Takato agrees with Henry's comment that
their decisions seem to be laid out for them and they don't get to
make too many choices, despite Takato just making the pretty bold
decision of letting Beelzemon live.

Was there a continuity error where
Takato, Henry and Rika crossed the bridge only to find Kazu, Kenta,
Jeri and Suzie, whom they leave in order to cross the bridge again?

Encapsulating the definition of
“tsundere” in one easy scene, Rika is angry at Takato's
confession that he pretended to be her while sending an e-mail home,
then bashfully appreciative of it, then pissed that he used hearts
and smiley faces. This now marks the second time in franchise history
where a boy faces drama regarding the tone of his e-mail.

When he joined the team, did anybody
have Guardromon down as absolute hilarity? Between his “when you
start dating, you'll make many girls sad” line and “I did; I
watched the whole thing,” he's proving to be awesome comic relief.

Henry and Terriermon give us a little
more insight into the bio-merge phenomenon as Henry comments on the
feeling of energy surrounding him while the additional life force
heals Terriermon's injuries.

5 comments:

"When he joined the team, did anybody have Guardromon down as absolute hilarity?"

Yup. My personal favourite is when he asks Suzie if what she's doing isn't dangerous, and then replying to her answer.

Also, I like the small touch with Lopmon trying to plea with her master first, and him giving her a chance to join his side again. It didn't last long, but when she's the only Deva to show more personality, I'm accepting all I can get.

Zhuqiaomon must have set a record for saying "Phoenix Fire!" multiple times in this episode. Seriously, there must have been like, one other attack he used and I don't even remember what it was cause I was so fixiated on when he would yell "Phoenix Fire!" again. XD

Kazu and Kenta are awesome. They may be idiots but they're idiots who care about their friends. Especially when they care about how Jeri's doing and being enough of a distraction to Beelzemon for Gallantmon to stage a comeback. Also, they helped get everybody out of that mess at the end with the D-Reaper. Say what you want about these guys, they contribute what they do and its much appreciated.

"Was there a continuity error where Takato, Henry and Rika crossed the bridge only to find Kazu, Kenta, Jeri and Suzie, whom they leave in order to cross the bridge again?"From what I remember, the episode opens with them power trio scouting out the bridge before returning to the rest of the group to decie what to do next (which is go back to the bridge again, this time with Lopmon too).